January
4 Joyce Carlson, 84, artist, designer of Disney's "It's a Small World" rides.
18 Richard Knerr, 82, co-founder of Wham-O, inventor of the frisbee and Hula Hoop.
18 Ugo Pirro, 87, Italian screenwriter (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, The Garden of the Finzi-Contini's), for which he won two Academy Awards as Best Foreign Film.
19 Mildred Noble, 86, American writer and Native American activist.
22 Miles Lerman, 88, American creator of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
22 Claude Piron, 76, Swiss linguist and Esperanto author.
26 Zhang Hanzhi, 72, Chinese diplomat and linguist, English tutor for Mao, Nixon interpreter for 1972 visit.
27 Gordon B. Hinckley, 97, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
28 Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens, 69, Primate of the Church of Greece.
February
1 Floyd Boring, 92, Secret Service agent, helped foil Truman assassination attempt.
2 Earl Butz, 98, politically incorrect politician, Secretary of Agriculture (19711976).
3 Samuel Boyle, 59, New York City bureau chief of Associated Press (19812002).
6 John Alvin, 59, artist best known for movie posters (Star Wars, Blade Runner, E.T.).
9 Scot Halpin, 54, American one time drummer for The Who.
9 Merril Sandoval, 82, Navajo Code Talker, World War II.
11 Frank Piasecki, 88, aeronautical engineer who invented the tandem rotor placement in helicopter design.
12 David Groh, 68, actor (the husband on Rhoda).
14 William Modell, 86, chairman of Modell's Sporting Goods.
18 Alain Robbe-Grillet, 85, French writer (Last Year at Marienbad).
21 Sunny Lowry, 97, first British woman to swim the English Channel.
21 Robin Moore, 82, author (The French Connection, The Green Berets).
22 Richard Baer, 79, scriptwriter (The Munsters, Leave It to Beaver, Bewitched).
24 Floyd Matthews, 105, American oldest living submariner.
March
1 Raúl Reyes, 59, Colombian FARC second-in-command, airstrike.
3 Norman "Hurricane" Smith, 85, British singer, recording engineer (The Beatles, Pink Floyd) and record producer.
4 Gary Gygax, 69, co-creator of role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
4 Leonard Rosenman, 83, Academy Award-winning composer, (East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, Star Trek IV).
12 Howard Metzenbaum, 90, U.S. Senator from Ohio (1974, 19761995).
23 Neil Aspinall, 66, British road manager for The Beatles and executive of Apple Corps.
25 Herb Peterson, 89, fast food pioneer, inventor of the McDonald's Egg McMuffin.
31 Jules Dassin, 96, American Academy Awardnominated film director (The Naked City, Rififi, Never on Sunday), widower of Greek film star Melina Mercouri.
April
7 Ruth Greenglass, 84, American atomic spy for the Soviet Union, wife of David Greenglass, sister-in-law of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
9 Abu Ubaidah al-Masri, Pakistani Al Qaeda senior operative, death from probable hepatitis confirmed on this date.
17 Danny Federici, 58, keyboardist for Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.
May
1 Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 52, escort agency proprietor, suicide by hanging.
2 Mildred Loving, 68, civil rights pioneer, challenged Virginia interracial marriage law (Loving v. Virginia).
4 Colin Murdoch, 79, New Zealand inventor of the disposable hypodermic syringe and the tranquilizer gun.
8 Eddy Arnold, 89, country music singer.
9 Nuala O'Faolain, 68, Irish journalist and author.
16 Robert Mondavi, 94, American winemaker, benefactor of the Mondavi Center, member of California Hall of Fame.
20 Zelma Henderson, 88, last surviving plaintiff in Brown v. Board of Education.
26 Jerry C. Begay, 83, Navajo code talker and World War II veteran.
26 Donald L. Pilling, 64, admiral, Vice Chief of U.S. Naval Operations (19972000).
June
1 Anne d'Harnoncourt, 64, (American) chief executive of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
2 Frank Tsosie Thompson, 87, Navajo code talker, World War II veteran.
3 Paul Sills, 80, theater director and comedian, co-founder of The Second City improv troupe.
July
1 Clay Felker, 82, editor and journalist (New York magazine).
12 Olive Riley, 108, Australian woman believed to be the world's oldest blogger.
13 Patricia Buckley Bozell, 81, founder of Catholic journal Triumph, sister of William F. Buckley, Jr. and mother of L. Brent Bozell III (Media Research Center founder).
August
6 Anthony Russo, 71, whistleblower (Pentagon Papers).
9 Bernie Mac, 50, comedian and actor (The Bernie Mac Show, "Oceans" movies).
11 James Hoyt, 83, U.S. soldier, member of the Buchenwald liberation team.
15 Jerry Wexler, 91, record producer (Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Led Zeppelin, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield, Bob Dylan), coined the term "rhythm and blues".
15 Gladys Powers, 109, British-born Canadian last female veteran of World War I, served with the WAAC and WRAF.
17 Dave Freeman, 47, author (100 Things To Do Before You Die), of injuries from fall.
20 Stephanie Tubbs Jones, 58, member of the House of Representatives (D-Ohio) since 1999.
September
1 Don LaFontaine, 68, voice-over artist ("in a world where...").
October
1 Nick Reynolds, 75, folk musician (The Kingston Trio).
5 Mohamed Moumou, 43, Iraqi al-Qaida second-in-command, shot.
14 Robert Furman, 93, American spy during World War II, foreign intelligence chief for Manhattan Project.
19 Richard Blackwell, 86, fashion critic ("Mr. Blackwell's Ten Best- or Worst-Dressed Women").
22 Lou Dorfsman, 90, CBS television graphic designer.
November
1 Yma Sumac, 86, Peruvian soprano.
2 Madelyn Dunham, 86, maternal grandmother of Barack Obama.
10 Miriam Makeba, 76, South African "click" singer.
December
2 Odetta, 77, folk singer and human rights activist.
5 Richard Topus, 84, World War II messenger pigeon trainer and business executive.
6 Sunny von Bülow, 76, heiress, cardiopulmonary arrest.
8 Mohammad Bobi, Afghan Taliban commander, airstrike.
12 Van Johnson, 92, actor (Battleground, The Caine Mutiny, Brigadoon, Batman).
18 Conor Cruise O'Brien, 91, Irish politician, writer and academic.
18 W. Mark Felt, 95, Deputy Director of the FBI, "Deep Throat" in the Watergate scandal.
18 Paul Weyrich, 66, American conservative activist (co-founder, Heritage Foundation; coined the term "moral majority"; CEO of Free Congress Foundation, a conservative think tank).
19 Sir Bernard Crick, 79, British political theorist.
2008? Who cares, they’re dead!